Paperthin Hymn
by Freai-RBO
Summary: Shonen-ai in later chapters, rating may change: Ryou's story has never been fully told. From when he received his ring, to the ever fateful Memroy Arc, and everything inbetween. His life has been a emotional hurricane of fear, confusion, love, and abando
1. Chapter 1 Part 1

So this is the infamous blurbs I've been talking about. As you will be able to tell by the continuous -- I have written this over the course of about two weeks. And the days that I wasn't faintly going over it and deciding it wasn't complete crap, I was actually writing and I devide the two with -- but it is really all one story. (**EDIT: **This no longer applies)

This is very... different from any other story that I have written. I've done a few with Bakura being the bad guy, but I want to be more true to the story. I made him cruel, but I made it more in character, though eventually this will be a yaoi. I don't know how yet, my only outline is a song that will be the titles of my chapters. I don't know how long this will be, and I don't know where this is going, and I don't know if anyone will even like it. Comments are a good thing. If I don't get comments I think ppl think it sucks and I just don't update. I lose motivation, so please comment if you liked it. Or if you didn't, I'd like to know if I'm delusional or not.

But as I said before, this isn't polished, it's not perfect, and it may drag so... sorry.

**EDIT: **To my WONDERFUL watchers/reviewers THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm glad you like this story. However, I got extreme feedback from a friend of mine that says that the chapter is too long and that I should shorten it. This will help me a little because then I have more time to write my little 3-2 page blurbs. I'm having a hard time finishing up the next full chapter, every lyric means something and I need to complete it, so now I'll be able to update faster. So I'll have everything up soon, but I'm running out of time in class right now so I'll finish posting what I already had written by next week when I get back into my senior project hour again. And hopefully star posting new stuff, please stay with me on this, I'm really liking this story so far!

**Disclaimer:** Freai doesn't own Ryou Bakura, Arthur Bakura, or the spirit of the Ring.

--

"_**When your only friends are hotel rooms" **_

**_(Part 1)_**

--

His head hurt. Ached and throbbed though he did not know the source of the pain. Trying to open his eyes, he was stopped by a blinding white light, making the pain double as he shrunk away from the brightness. He was lying on a bed, and couldn't escape the light; rolling over to cover his eyes from the intruding light his head spun more and throbbed intensely. What had he done, did he fall and hit his head? No, then he wouldn't be on a bed. Had he died? Was this the end? A blinding white light? Oblivion. He had never thought of it, what it would mean to no longer exist. It was a nice thought, considering where he was the last time he was conscious.

Wait… where was he? He was… at his boarding school… in his dorm with all of the other boys. The other boys… his heart sunk deep into his stomach and he suddenly wished he WAS dead. He didn't want to wake up only to see he was in his bunk. He tried to swallow but his throat was dry, and his breathing seemed a little ragged. His chest hurt too, not from breathing though… did they beat him again? No, he knew what that felt like, the pain he felt now wasn't as dull, and it didn't hurt when he moved a muscle, but when he moved his skin. Still having his head buried into the blanket, he let his hand trail down his chest, there was something there. Where was his jacket? Why was his shirt undone? Cool metal met his fingers… what was it? Was he in a hospital and not the dorm like he had previously thought? No, the object was circular… it was that thing, that necklace that his father had sent him.

It came in a little cardboard box just a few weeks ago, on the inside he had found a note that said "Ryou – I'm sorry this isn't going to get to you for your birthday, and I'm sorry I'm not going to make it back to see you. Hope you're doing well in school. Love, Dad" His birthday had been five months ago. 'Ryou', that was his name. No one here in England could ever say it right, and they couldn't say 'Bakura' either but he blamed that on Star Wars. It was strange that he didn't think of England as his home, he was born there, and had never even gone to the place of his name's origin. But Japan seemed so much more welcoming than here. He had been born in London, and lived with his parents until he was eight. After that it had been boarding school after boarding school. Number five, he was laying in his fifth bunk at his fifth boarding school at the age of twelve. It wasn't always his fault though; first it was money, and then location, and the last few had been because of him… and the kids that he roomed with.

Ryou wasn't a very normal boy. His father, Arthur Bakura, who had a completely normal name also had a very abnormal job. He was an archaeologist for the Natural History Museum in London, and was gone… all the time. Ryou had gone with him a few times, but his father believed that he needed to be with children of his own age. So he sent his eight year old son to a boarding school, who then proceeded to skip two grades as soon as he got there. Raised on a dig site, Ryou knew enough to be considered a prodigy of his time, but… unfortunately, his peers did not share the same enthusiasm as his teachers.

Ryou was smaller than everyone else, had a pale complexion (even though he had been outside for the last three years of his life), and long pure white hair. The length was quickly solved, but the school did not allow him to dye his hair. Even to fit in. Being very shy and very meek he was easily pushed around, and any self-confidence was destroyed very quickly. Still small, still child-like, and still unbelievably brilliant, Ryou felt he could never escape the hell that was the boarding school he now resided in.

Trying to open his eyes once more, he slowly adjusted to the brightness and tried to look around, constantly reminded of the pain in his head as it throbbed in time with his heart beat. This was not his dorm room. The walls were white, blaringly white. There were no lights in the room, but there were no shadows. The bed he lay on had very soft colors, but was plain as could be. As he looked closer at the walls, ignoring the pain that shot through his head as he concentrated, he could see that there use to be things on the walls. Pictures that were now void of color or outline, and the moldings were white as well. The

carpet use to have a design but had been bleached beyond repair, as had a few pieces of furniture he had not noticed before. They were as white as everything else, and casted no shadows, so they blended into the walls and floor. It was strange and it hurt to look at it for very long. He closed his eyes once more, welcoming the darkness, but as he opened them again he noticed the room had changed. Shadows were starting to form around the furniture, right before his eyes, and the walls dimmed to an off-white grey. What was this room? And then he saw the door.

It wasn't there before he was sure of it. It was old wood, so old that it had to be bleached because of age. But it was grey, and as he stared at it pondering how its existence came to be, the color changed. It became more burgundy by the moment, and all Ryou could do was watch it in awe as it de-aged two hundred years in a matter of minutes. Dumbly, he tried to slide off the bed, nothing really ached though he knew it should. The carpet was soft, and he was barefoot. Looking down he realized his clothes had changed. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, like he use to in Cairo. And the necklace his father had given him was gone. What was going on?

Standing up, he wavered on his feet, but eventually caught his balance. Was he so weak that he didn't notice someone coming in to help him? Why didn't he notice his clothes were changed? Was he just imagining everything and was really in the infirmary? He couldn't understand anything. But as he tried to take a step towards the door his knee gave out and he crashed to the ground. The carpet was suddenly hard, and it felt as if he had hit a concrete floor. Tasting copper, he saw the first colors since he woke up in the strange room. Blood, bright crimson dripping onto the pure white carpet. It would stain he was sure, trying to stop the nose bleed, he cupped his hand just under his nose and mouth, tasting the blood in his teeth. But as soon as he started looking around for something to help stop it the bleeding ceased. He blinked in confusion, large chocolate brown eyes staring at the floor waiting for more drops to fall. But none did. Before he could start cleaning himself up though, the door shook.

His head snapped up, it had shook as if someone had accidently bumped into it. Was there someone there? He wanted to ask but was afraid to speak… he wasn't sure if he could. The silence he had been in for however long he had been awake had now consumed him entirely. He was scared to shatter it. Trying to find his feet, he dragged himself over to he door slowly. He reached out to touch the door, not sure if it was real, but the rough wood that he felt confirmed it just as much as the bloody fingerprints he left behind. Grasping the old brass door-knob, he half-expected to find the door locked. For some reason he felt that he was forbidden to leave the room, wherever the room might be. And as he turned it the lock clicked and denied him passage. Sighing, he let his hand drop and just stared at it. Wondering what to do, going back to bed sounded very inviting at the moment. But then the lock clicked again. He waited for the door to open but it never did, was the lock just stuck? It had to be. There was no other explanation.

Turning the door knob again, it turned all the way this time, and the door opened with a gusty breath of air. It was dark on the other side. Should he really leave the room? Looking over his shoulder at the blinding walls and colorless patterns, he needed no motivation. He stepped into the darkness.

His bare feet meet the cold wet street, and the rain soaked him to the bone not a moment after he stepped outside. Wait, outside? Looking around, a dim light on the wall of the building he just walked out of gave enough light to see the pouring rain and the building right across from him. He was standing in an alleyway, much like back in London. How did he get to London? Actually he knew this alley! The building across from him was the museum! He looked back at the closed door, had that always been there? He had explored every crevasse of the museum when he was little, how had he not seen it before? Had it been blocked off, he was probably forbidden to go there in the first place. Looking back at the museum, he searched for the solid cement doors, and found them. The light above them was burned out, and the doors were locked and chained. Did he really have no other option but to go back to the white room? Walking over to them, avoiding large bits of gravel and glass, he finally reached the doors, and took hold of the chains. They were ice cold.

He blinked through his water-logged bangs at the door again, didn't there use to be windows on them? And they were painted a brownish-red last he remembered. There were black, so black that in this darkness he was surprised he had seen them. Only because he had remembered them had he found them, any one else would just stand in the alley way forever.

Starting to walk further down the alley, he thought he could go around and see if a janitor would let him in through the front doors. But a hand colder than the chains on the door grabbed him by the arm. Crying out in surprise at the cold and the other's sudden presence, looking back to see who it was… he screamed.

He was looking at himself… or so he had thought at first. The eyes were darker, and crueler, as was the smirk that was set firmly on the thin pale lips. Even through the rain, the other's hair was all over the place, and it was taller than him. It was wearing the button up shirt and uniform pants of his boarding school, what he had been wearing only moments before. He looked so much OLDER than him, but it was himself. He really was dead.

The other chuckled mockingly, shaking his head a little. "You're not dead," it told him through the rain. The water was barely touching him, only lightly wetting his clothes so they clung to his body, and his hair drooped slightly from the weight of the water. "And you're not dreaming either." Ryou hadn't even thought that he was dreaming, but it was very obviously the next explanation he would have come up with. "Of course," the other drawled in a faint British brogue, "that might make this easier to except if you think it's a dream and then later realize in horror that it is all real." The smile on his face was so wide it could have split his face, with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Ryou know that it was toying with him, like he was the most amusing thing that it had seen in a long time. That realization hit him full force, nothing he thought here were assumptions, everything was truth. And anything that was assumption the other knew before he did, like it was in his mind. "Now you're catching on."

The figure took a step towards Ryou, and almost in time with it he took a step back. A silver eye-brow disappeared underneath the wild bangs. He clicked his tongue and took another step forward, "now, now, don't be like that yadoneshi." Ryou hesitated at the title, in which it got another step closer without him keeping the distance even.

"Yadoneshi?" He had never hated the sound of his own voice so much before. It was soft and high-pitched with a distinct British accent, even when speaking Japanese. And his mind couldn't translate fast enough, "w-what.." taking another step back his legs gave out again and he crashed to the wet cement. The other laughed at his misfortune, a laugh that was almost swallowed up in the sound of the rolling thunder and pouring rain. Suddenly, faster than Ryou could blink, the other was no longer hovering over him and was kneeling on the ground too close for comfort. Ryou scrambled to get away, but that ice cold grip caught him again.

"You know what it means," the other drawled. He leaned in, causing Ryou to freak out more, but he couldn't move. When did the wall appear behind him? The figure nuzzled his wet hair in a mock-loving gesture, while the grip he had on the boy tightened to the point of pain. The other didn't say anything, he didn't need to, and Ryou didn't need to completely understand the situation to understand what the other was smiling about. It was too happy, too utterly beside itself that it was finally free. Free from what he didn't know. But he somehow knew, somehow felt, that he was stuck with this strange… thing that looked exactly like him. That he could never escape it, no matter how hard he tried. And like any good landlord, yadoneshi, he had to keep his border happy. The thing was stroking his hair as he realized all this, but didn't understand what any of it meant. Where were they? "In your mind," it whispered to him, trying to contain its maniacal laughter. What? Inside his head? But how… how do you leave? How did you escape it? "You wake up… when I let you." He was asleep? It had more control over him than it was letting on, didn't it? The other just smirked wider, showing vampire-like fangs, as a response. His shoulders starting to shake in silent laughter. What was going on?

Ice touched his forehead, cold dry ice that made him flinch at the contact. It let the kiss linger, as the smirk never left its lips. "All in good time. Now go back to sleep, your head still hurts. Remember?"

Searing pain shot through his head as it said that. He screamed, collapsing against the wall and holding his head tightly. The laughter echoed through his head, and he couldn't stop screaming. He was still screaming when the nurse found him on the floor outside the infirmary. How he got there… nobody knew.

--

**_TBC_**

--

Okay, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review, I'm more motivated to write if I know ppl like this somewhat...


	2. Chapter 1 Part 2

Alright, the next part of my first chapter.... I know some of you have already read this. I'm starting to space this out upon request. So to the few people who read this when I orginially posted this I'm really sorry I'll have new stuff up next week. Promise.

**Disclaimer:** Freai doesn't own Ryou Bakura, Arthur Bakura, or the spirit of the Ring.

--

"_**When your only friends are hotel rooms" **_

**_(Part 2)_**

--

Ryou never really became accustomed to his new situation. He never really got use to the feeling of his head being… full. Like his head was stuffed with cotton, compacted to the point of pain. Everyone else just though he had a sinus infection, then migraines, and eventually that he was just faking the pains. No one could find any other explanation. This scared Ryou, because the thing that looked like him hadn't fully spoken or appeared to him in over a month. He hadn't been back in the blaring white room, or the rainy alleyway outside the museum. But he knew he was there… inside his head. It had taken him a while to guess that he was there, probably laughing at him. It was strange to him… and he became extremely paranoid and even more jumpy than usual.

But what was even stranger was that he had been wearing the necklace that his father had given him… even though he knew that the thing was somehow connected to it… and he couldn't take it off. It felt like he didn't want to – but no, he knew that he _couldn't_ take it off. He needed to wear it. When he took it off he suddenly felt exposed and alone. He even started to wear it to bed.

Every once in a while he'd hear someone laugh, that deep mocking laugh that was quiet enough that only he could hear it. Usually only when he fell or some misfortune befell someone in his proximity, or in history class. That was weird.

And, sometimes, as he walked through the hallways he would glance out the windows and his faint reflection in the glass will have changed. Those eyes were sneering at him, bright and distinct and not his own. He had screamed the first time, causing everyone in the hallway to stare, but as soon as he looked back the image was gone and only his frightened eyes were reflected dimly on the window. But now, when it stared at him, he would just look away and try very hard not to look back. His heart still sped up though, giving the thing the satisfaction of startling him.

It was toying with him still. It was taking its sweet time before revealing itself to the boy again, if it ever would at all. The tormenting lasted for months, and it was starting to affect his life. His school was starting to think of him as a mental case, though his grades were still one of the highest in the school. No one talked to him, or even bullied him any more. Ryou wasn't sure if this was okay or not, no one would be there to help him if the spirit appeared again.

Around the end of the term, right before finals were to take place, Ryou was unexpectedly called to the office. Snickers went around the room as Ryou gathered his things and headed out of the room, trying to ignore the comments being whispered as he left. Some people were thinking that they were going to kick him out of the school, and other's were SURE that he was going to be sent to another wing and housing for… the "special" kids. He was a head case to everyone, even the teacher, who watched him leave with what looked like a mixture of pity and inner-relief.

His footsteps filled the empty stone corridor, and Ryou's paranoia increased as he came closer and closer to the headmaster's office. Were they right? Was he being sent away? Word had spread fast about his nightmares, when he cried and screamed in his sleep, waking up in cold sweat with his roommates glaring at him. Or many incidents where his paranoia had cause him to freak out and break something or hurt someone or cause some sort of ruckus. It wasn't his fault, but he couldn't tell anyone about the thing that looked just like him, that haunted his reflection and loved to torment him to no end. Because it sounded too much like a mental condition, schizophrenia or psychosis. Even he had considered the fact that he might be loosing his mind, but then dismissed it after a long while of pondering. He wasn't crazy, he wouldn't be able to reason if he was crazy, so this must be something beyond his control or his realm of knowledge. So in other words… no one could help him.

Entering the northern wing, he was almost to the office when he accidently glanced towards one of the windows and there it was. Bright eyes as red as blood, bearing into his own, and he froze in shock. Whenever he blinked usually the thing would disappear, but this time it didn't, it just stood there, staring at him. A smirk crawled up its face, and it brought a thin skeletal finger to its lips in silence, warning him not to scream. Ryou shook his head and was about to dart off, but the thing's gaze kept him rooted to the spot. He was quivering in fear as it mouthed instructions to him, "Don't do anything stupid." And suddenly it was behind him, he could feel it there breathing on his neck, but he was still seeing its reflection.

The reflection had changed; it was standing behind him, kneading into his shoulders though he couldn't feel that. But his muscles started to relax and his fear was slightly ebbing away. And then it was talking to him in that same hoarse voice that had been laughing at him the past few months. "Keep your head, yadoneshi. Calm down and walk in there like a normal fucking kid, ok? And whatever you do….," pain shot through his shoulders where the other had been kneading as he squeezed hard, digging his nails into his arms, "keep our little meetings to yourself."

It started to sooth the part of his arms and shoulders it had abused, and started to coo and sympathize with him in a strange and slightly-mocking way. Ryou wasn't stupid; he knew when the thing was trying to manipulate him. Even though it was only their second meeting, he knew the other's actions inside and out, just as the thing did for him. "They wouldn't understand," it drawled in a higher tone, almost singing in a way, "and they don't need to. There's nothing wrong with you, in fact nobody should be treating you the way they have." He leaned in closer, and whispered breathily "I can help you with that later." It sent a shock of fear down his spine, and he suddenly feared the thing more than he ever had before. It was really dangerous wasn't it? It would hurt him a lot more if it wanted to. He started to shiver again, but the thing continued its ministrations. "Now, now, don't get all worked up. You still have to go into the office, and it's probably not just the headmaster and the counselor in there. Whatever happens, keep your head." It was really starting to loose its patience with Ryou, but continued trying to encourage him. Ryou could almost picture the rant in its head 'He's only a child; a stupid, insolent child but a child none-the-less. Don't fucking kill him even though you want to, you NEED him. Keep yourself together damnit.' It scared Ryou more.

But he knew it was right. He had to calm down. Breathing deeply, he let the spirit steal away his tenseness. "Good," it cooed coolly. "Now you probably will get transferred out of this school, but that's alright. We don't need this place anyway. Let's try to get another school, closer to London. I've never really been to the museum, and I know you miss it. Apparently it's our only connection so we'll go to that alley together-"

"Will you tell me what's going on… i-if I get you to London." Ryou hadn't even thought it rude to interrupt him, though he was scared shitless of doing it. He could see the half-lidded eyes watch him in amusement, and a spark of anticipation appeared as it smirked again.

"Whatever you want." Ryou nodded, and then walked away from the thing towards the door to the headmaster's office. Calmer than he had been in months, and not expecting what was beyond the door at all.

--

**TBC**

_--_

I may have mentioned this before, but this is a very different story than what I have ever written before. This isn't EXACTLY the same as the originally storyline, but I'm playing closer to it and the personalities of the characters that Kazuki Takahashi created. If no one can tell yet, I'm trying to prove... eventually.... that there can be a romance between these two that is never shown in the manga. It's not _impossible_.

But yes, please review. Flame if you wish just keep it to 2nd degree burns okay?


	3. Chapter 1 Part 3

Woot! Finally back in school, alright: here's part three, also a re-run for most ppl. I'll try to get part four up tomorrow and then post new stuff either Thursday or Friday.

**Disclaimer:** Freai doesn't own Ryou Bakura, Arthur Bakura, or the spirit of the Ring.

--

"_**When your only friends are hotel rooms" **_

**_(Part 3)_**

--

Chocolate-brown eyes stared off into nothingness, void of any warmth or emotion. The tacky wallpaper was dimmed by the late-afternoon grey that filtered through the window, so it didn't affect his numb state. The hotel room was bitterly cold, and his body protested but he couldn't move. His thoughts had surrounded him, wrapped so tightly it was impossible for him to physically do anything.

His father had been in the headmaster's office. Ryou hadn't seen his father in over a year, but there he was; even the spirit that haunted him couldn't have prepared him for that. He had been caught between hugging his father, crying, laughing, or turning around and running from the room. But all he ended up doing was staring at his father in disbelief with his jaw slack and mouth slightly open. "Hello son," his father barely looked at him, and when he did he had this look in his eyes that just radiated sadness. For a moment Ryou thought that it was something that he had done to make his father upset, but after a while of just standing there until the Headmaster asked him to sit down in the chair between his father and the counselor, he knew his father wasn't mad at him. He was ashamed at himself.

Ryou couldn't talk any more, he was too focused on the fact that his dad was in town and he hadn't known it. Had he come to surprise him, or… had he been avoiding him? He could feel his heart breaking as his father spoke with the headmaster and the councilor, and he wasn't paying attention. But he soon noticed that his chest was hurting more than an emotional pain should. A voice whispered harshly in his ear, _"Pay attention. Stop acting like a child_!" A sharp pain on his ear snapped him out of his stupor and he looked up just as the headmaster turned to him for his input. "We are all really confused Ryou, would you care to explain to us what has been happening with you the last few months."

"_Make something up!" _Ryou blinked at the headmaster in pseudo-confusion. "What do you mean, sir?" The old man described how though his grades have not suffered, that he had been extremely anti-social, mischievous almost, and that both teachers and students were complaining. "Well…" his mind raced as he tried not to think about his father, who had finally turned his gaze to him, "I'm afraid that I've been a little… jumpy lately. As you know my last school I had some… unfortunate events happen." He blushed deeply to add to his lie. "I'm afraid that some of my… roommates had been picking on me as well, and I just couldn't seem to settle down. I've been feeling a little better as of late. But… I'm sorry to say, sir, that I don't feel very comfortable here any more." That had been too easy, he could never lie this well, the thing in his head smiled cruelly before retreating back to wherever it disappeared to. _"You're welcome."_

His headmaster sighed. "I was afraid of that," he stood up from behind his desk and handed Ryou's father a stack of brochures. "Because of Ryou's brilliant grades and statistics he is wanted just about everywhere, these are some schools that have said that they would love to have him. I did the liberty of not telling them about past events."

"Thank you," his father said gravely, and shuffled through the brochures. The rest of the meeting Ryou tried to participate, but by the time it ended he was exhausted and could only think of being able to talk to his father alone. They had decided on a private secondary school inside of London, which also had optional individual housing. The councilor had suggested Ryou do that and meet new people outside of the living quarters, and then room with them the next year. Possibly even the next trimester or two. Just to prevent his unlucky chances of unpleasant roommates.

Ryou was reluctant to let his father leave, but he had to get back to London. He said he was staying for the next month, and that he would see him at the end of the term when he came home. Ryou thought his heart had stopped. Home. Oh how much he would love to go home, and the first real smile in months crossed his face. It was bright and wide and contagious for his father gave a smile as well only smaller. He got to hug his father for the first time in a year, and said goodbye.

Three weeks passed, and he made the highest marks in his class on his finals. He couldn't WAIT to leave the school, so much so he couldn't sit still the entire train ride back to London. He had been so happy, that had to be the best day of his life. He arrived at the National History Museum in London, found his father who showed him all of the new contributions he had given to the Museum with great fervor. This was the one thing that he and his father had in common, and Ryou questioned if he could ever go on another dig with him. He frowned a little and said that he was currently excavating in South America, and that he thought it was too dangerous. But when he went back to Egypt or Italy he would be sure to pluck him out of school, "I've missed my best assistant" he said through a smile, messing up his son's now croppy white hair. They had gone home, and Ryou was as happy as he could ever be.

His father left four days after that. He had to return to South America to finish up his dig site, and the people he had left there had said that they were having trouble with thieves. Before he left, though, he had to ask his father one thing. His father was washing the dinner dishes when Ryou brought the golden necklace in from his bedroom. "Dad?" He asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" He had been zoning out again, either thinking about work or about… Ryou's mother again. Ryou hoped it was work, because he always felt awful when he interrupted his father's memories of his late wife. But he turned around with a curious look in his eyes, "what is it?"

Shifting his feet a little, and biting his lip in nervousness, he held up the circular object. It was a ring, big enough that it took up a majority of his chest when he wore it, but not enough that he couldn't hide it. It had a triangular pyramid in the center with the eye of Horus engraved on it. And five long pointed thin-cone-shapes hung from the bottom half in even intervals. It as obviously Egyptian, and made of pure gold, but it looked really old… and that's what worried Ryou. "Could you tell me about this?"

A spark lit up his father's eyes, "Oh! So you got it! Do you like it?"

"Yes, I love it Dad," Ryou said half-truthfully.

"Well this is quite a story; sit down, sit down, I'll tell you all about it!" He put his half cleaned dish down and sat with his twelve-year-old son at the little kitchen table. "Well I was in a bazaar in Cairo, that one just a few blocks from the Cairo Museum – oh, you probably don't remember. Anyway, I was just passing through it and this necklace caught my eye." He picked it up, running his rough callused fingers over the smooth metal. "And it reminded me of you, so I thought immediately that I had to buy it for you. But this is pure gold, I'm sure of it, and it appears so old. The shop keeper told me that it was extremely old, dating back to Ancient times. I even dated it myself, this is over 3000 years old!" Ryou's eyes widened, also becoming captivated by the object his father had yet to put back on the table. "He told me it was somehow connected to this game, but I must have gotten confused in translation. He said it was connected to that game you and your friends use to play, Duel Monsters I believe it was called." Ryou tore his gaze away from the item and gave his father a quizzical look. Who just smiled back at him apologetically. "I think he was just trying to get me to buy it, that was another strange thing… he seemed REALLY eager to get rid of it and INSITED that I buy it. I was going to get it anyway, but I took advantage and got it for a much MUCH lower price than he was going to sell it to me for." The wink his father gave him made Ryou burst into giggles.

"Oh yes, you were always good with the merchants-"

"HEY! That old lady was stronger than she looked!" His father protested, becoming flustered at the memory as his son laughed at him. After he had calmed a bit he handed the item back to Ryou, "This is a priceless item Ryou, so always take care of it." Ryou stared at the necklace and took it from his father, running his own fingers over it.

"Did he have a name for it?"

His father's eyes lit up again, "that's the other part of the story!" He leaned in closer to his son, who knew that this was going to be the highlight of his father's tale. "The man believed that this was one of the Millennium Items, the Ring to be precise. You remember the story don't you?"

Of course he remembered, it was an old tale he had heard from the other archaeologists when he went on digs with his father. About a nameless pharaoh and magical items. After that… Ryou was even more afraid of the spirit that haunted him than before. He hadn't told his father about the thing in his head. But the fear was one of the reasons that he sat in the hotel room all alone staring at the wall. The other was because of a girl named Alice, and a boy named Charles, as well as other classmates of his: Eric, James, Courtney, Richard, and Brittany. They were the reasons that he was sitting in this hotel room, hiding in this hotel room, and why he might never be able to see his father again.

**_TBC_**

--

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!! Is it really that bad?


	4. Chapter 1 Part 4

Alright, last part of the first chapter! I officially have everything up that I have already posted. I will get new stuff up probably late tomorrow night... like 10 or 11pm Central Time (cause that's where I am and that's when I get home from work). After this, updates won't be as frequent as I've been doing, because I acutally have to _write _them. Usually, I want to finish the entire chapter before I post it, in case I come up with something and want to add hints of it in earlier. But the first part to the second chapter is okay, I don't mind making it pernament. I'm close to finishing that second chapter... then I'll start posting it and (hopefully) have the third one finished by the time I finish posting all the parts. And so on and so forth, yay patterns. XD

But yes, end of the first chapter; hope you like it.

**Disclaimer:** Freai doesn't own Ryou Bakura, Arthur Bakura, or the spirit of the Ring.

--

"_**When your only friends are hotel rooms" **_

**_(Part 4)_**

--

Ryou had really settled into his new boarding school, and had even started to make friends. The big thing in the school was table top games, and Ryou had quickly become a connoisseur because of his inventiveness and quick thinking. Everyone in his class wanted him to come over and be the game master for whatever they were playing, and he loved it. Popularity had never been one of his past attributes, making him still shy and modest. But his classmates seemed to love that about him, especially the girls. When he turned thirteen even he had forgotten about his birthday by the time he reached his first class, but everyone else didn't. He was officially the nice guy, the person you go to for advice or if you have a secret, and on the top of all the girls' "dateable" lists. He couldn't help but be happy.

The best part, though, was he hadn't heard from the spirit after his father had left and he started attending school again. He also had avoided the museum like the plague, afraid that it would appear again. He didn't even think about what use to be his second home any more. And because of that he hadn't heard from his father either.

Every evening after study hall and they were all dismissed everyone would gather in one of the dorms and play table top games. It was the one thing Ryou always loved, he wished it would never end. But as the last trimester of their year came to a close, people started to announce that so and so would be leaving, transferring to another school because of money or because their parents didn't want them in the middle of the city any more. As soon as Ryou had made good friends, he was loosing them, and he felt it wasn't fair. He wished he could just live in this new paradise forever, and that they would never have to leave London, that he would always have friends to play table top games with.

… He just didn't except that his wish would be granted.

He woke up with a splitting headache, and it took him a moment to realize where he was. In his bed in his single-person dorm, though how he got to his bed he wasn't sure. He had been working on some new figurines for Monster World, his favorite table top game. And some friends of his were suppose to be by later that evening, but as he squinted out his window he could see the sun rising. It had been setting last he knew. What happened? How did he loose a full night?

And then he heard it, the deep rumbling laughter quiet in the back of his head. His heart stopped. No, no this couldn't be happening! It was gone! It hadn't bothered him for over 3 months! Why oh why would it come back!

The laughter continued as Ryou scrambled from his bed, looking around for a reflective surface so he could see for himself if it had returned, though he dreaded the very thought of what his reflection would show. The long looking glass on the wall was all that he saw, and instead of his panicked frightened face he saw… it. Cool eyes were half-lidded as it sneered at him, still laughing deeply to itself. Ryou collapsed against the wall, staring intently into the mirror, near inches away from it. "What have you done." His voice came out as a whisper, but his words were screamed inside his head. He knew it had done something, something terrible, nothing else would amuse it so.

"Whatever do you mean?" it asked, its words cut through the silence of the room like a knife, and he knew they were actually spoken and not in his head. It was actually _inside _the mirror, there with him. It didn't make a lot of sense, but it scared him so much he could no longer control his shaking. It laughed deeply again, the sound echoing in his ears, and it walked towards Ryou. "I was merely… paying my rent." The devilish smile couldn't have gotten any wider on its face, revealing a pair of fangs behind his pale lips.

"W-Wha-What do you…" Ryou couldn't even speak he was trembling so, his legs barely even able to hold him up. They gave out and he crashed to the ground once more, tearing his gaze away from the hypnotic red eyes. He stared at the ground, but something caught his eye in the early morning light. The little metal case full of his supplies for making figurines for table top games, it lay open, the paints open and paintbrushes still laying all over the floor. And lined up… in a neat little row… were five newly made figurines.

Ryou screamed.

The Spirit laughed.

Three boys, two girls, all in school uniform, all easily identifiable. He stared in horror, not able to tear his eyes away. His mouth still open, tears streaming down his cheeks, he shook so much he could barely see straight. He didn't see the spirit step out of the mirror, and kneel down next to him. But he felt its cold fingers grasp his neck and tilt it back, making it harder to see the figurines, but he still couldn't stop looking at them. Couldn't stop seeing the faces of the only friends he had had in London. He felt the cold, cruel lips on his ear, whispering to him.

"You wanted to play with your friends forever… and now they'll never leave you." Ryou started to cry harder. "That's what you wanted, wasn't it? For your _friends _to never leave you." Ryou wanted to shake his head, or hit the spirit, or at the very least free himself from its grasp, but he couldn't move. The cold hands started to stroke his neck and face, cleaning it of the ever constant flow of tears. "But don't you _ever_ forget, little one," it leaned in so close Ryou could feel the fangs on his ear, and the hand on his neck dug its nails into his skin. "…_I_… will never leave you either." It pressed itself against him, breathing its words heavily and coldly into his ear.

"_Never."_

The bodies were found later that morning when none of the students showed up to school. They weren't dead, but merely lifeless shells. Ryou was so beside himself that he was excused to the infirmary for the rest of the day, where he sobbed until he passed out. He never understood how dangerous the thing was until it was too late. What had it done to them? He had run back to his room, and stared at the figurines, picking them up one by one only to be shocked with horror once more. They were _warm. _

And he knew they were alive, every once in a while he thought he heard one of the girls crying, and he would collapse into sobs once more.

It didn't take long for someone to come questioning him, because he was suppose to have been with them. He merely claimed that he hadn't felt well and they had played without him, he knew nothing of what had happened to them.

The next night, though, Alice and Charles had come to cheer him up, with a table top game. Before he could tell them off he had blacked out. And that was how he had ended up in the hotel room. Nothing the spirit was telling him was registering. Something about how he thought that the adults were becoming suspicious, and that they had to leave because he couldn't get away with his fun anymore. Or at least that was what it sounded like, the only thing that Ryou had actually caught was _"At least you get to bring your friends along." _Closely followed by more laughter. But whatever plans the spirit had for them Ryou hadn't listened, he couldn't listen, so finally annoyed with his host it had disappeared once more. Leaving Ryou to stare numbly at the wall.

The thing… it was a part of him now. It had been ever sense he had entered the blaring white room. He had felt something cold and painful in his chest back then, but he hadn't known what it was at the time. He hadn't seen what it had done to him. It had fused itself with Ryou, the cold thing he felt was the demon that now lived inside him, and there was no way to get it out.

He didn't know when he stood up or went to the mirror, but Ryou found himself standing there, still staring blankly with bloodshot and red-rimmed eyes. Slowly he unbuttoned his shirt, first discovering the leather cord of the necklace, and then the never-blinking eye of Horus. And then the five pointed thorns that hung from the necklace, but they no longer dangled freely from the golden ring.

That was why he never took it off, that was why no one noticed he always wore it, that was why the spirit was _a part _of him now. All five thorns were embedded into his chest, reaching deep under his skin and leaving painful bloody wounds around the intrusions. They were newly reopened, but the scars were already there. The damage was already done.

He and the spirit of the ring were already one.

**_TBC _**

--

BLUGH. I still hate that ending. I just can't rewrite it to make it sound better. Oh, well.

END of chapter 1.

Please review and tell me what you think? REVIEWS UP THE WRITING PROCESS :D


	5. Chapter 2 Part 1

Okay, so it's way past Friday. Sorry I got REALLY caught up working on my online government class, I need to pass it or I can't graduate this year. But this is the first part to my next chapter. New stuff! Finally! This will probably make no sense whatsoever, but that's okay.

My updates are going to be a little spread apart from now on instead of one after the other like when I was just putting up what I've already done. I'd say either once a week or once every 10-14 days. I'm hoping for once a week, but I don't know how nice school will be treating me.

Sorry this is so short.

--

**Disclaimer:** Freai doesn't own Ryou Bakura, Arthur Bakura, or the spirit of the Ring.

--

**_"Hands are distant lullabies"_**

**_(Part 1)_**

--

Ryou hugged his pillow to himself, keeping his eyes squeezed shut for fear of what he would find in his room. Longer silver hair spilled over his shoulders, ruffled from his uneasy sleep… however long that sleep may have been. Taller than he was in London, the now fifteen year old boy had curled up his long limbs in and kept his face hidden from his empty dorm room. His ninth dorm room, in his ninth boarding school, and this time no one was there to celebrate his forgotten birthday. No one except… him.

It was obviously male, and not a thing, Ryou had learned that by now. But it still had not given him its name, and Ryou preferred to call the spirit a thing, because then he was above it on a moral standard. It was the only advantage he had, his only victory over the cruel spirit that resided in his ring. For it had more control than ever, with each day its power grew and Ryou was becoming more and more useless. It was attached to him now, calling him empty endearments and crooning over him. Pretending to be helping his "host" from whatever may be ailing him. Bullies, troubles with teachers, _loneliness_. Ryou shuddered at the thought of what the spirit might have done so he wouldn't be alone on his birthday. Because he knew the spirit had taken over his body once more during his sleep, leaving him exhausted and scared.

But all of the things that the spirit did to "help him", he knew what its intentions really were. It was isolating him. Keeping everything from getting to close and realizing how much Ryou was damaged and how much sanity was left in his frail form. The spirit wasn't stupid, he adapted to the modern world very quickly and knew of its dangers. Even more than Ryou did. That would be the only aspect in which it would be helping the teen, and for that Ryou could regretfully say he was grateful.

He was scared of the spirit, but over the years he had come to trust his actions… because it was all that he had. The last thing to grasp on to, no matter how frightened of it he was, it was still there with him. Year after year, any person that he ever met wouldn't stay more than a few days, weeks, months in the case of teachers and… his father. He hadn't spoken to his father in a while, and it was his fault. He kept pushing him away, afraid that the spirit would hurt him as well. Turn his only living family into a soulless shell, into another one of his… dozens… of dolls.

There had been so many, so many people that meet Ryou and love him at first sight… and want to help him. But no one could, no one could save him; he started to just ignore people, keeping them away and suffering alone with his tormentor. It liked to talk to him, liked to push his buttons and pull at his stings so to speak so his sanity was hanging by a thread. It loved how Ryou tried to stay rational, tried to ignore the comments about how much fun it was to tear apart his friends' minds. Loved to see Ryou struggle being alone, and have someone be nice to him and have Ryou weigh the options of how he could have a friend and keep them safe and then realize that he couldn't.

It loved his suffering so much, and especially liked saying it. The endearments and bitter-sweet nothings… and that's what they were. Nothings. Saying one thing and meaning another, at times Ryou just wanted to stop thinking. Stop the evil voice in his head and just have silence. That's where the sleeping pills came in.

At first it was one pill, then two, right now he was at three a night; and he couldn't hear the thing. He could rest, keep his sanity for one more night. For those few hours everything was all right. He was spacing out the doses, trying to avoid getting addicted seeing as he didn't have a very large supply. They were left over from his father, who had left them when he went on another dig seven months ago. They sat in the little medicine cabinet for almost half a year before Ryou tried one… just to get it to stop.

His chest felt warm as the ring glowed, and the ice cold hands were combing through his hair, sweeping it behind his neck and petting him like a child. "Wake up, Yadoneshi," it told him, the words were harsh, always harsh and it hurt to listen. "Wake up and see your birthday present, _I know you'll like it."_ Ryou shivered so violently at the statement that it shook the cold hands away from his neck and hair. He could feel the other frown, feel it like he himself was frowning though his face didn't move. Sometimes he couldn't distinguish the difference and he would mimick what the other was doing inside his head, not knowing that he was doing it. But not today, Ryou was biting his lip hard, trying to control his shaking, and not daring to look up. It was getting annoyed with him again, he just knew it! Over the years the spirit had a tendency to smack his host if he was acting "irrational", and most of the time it REALLY hurt. He wasn't abusive, and he didn't do it often, in fact most of the time the spirit's hand would phase right through him. The spirit had never really… touched Ryou though it felt so real to both of them.

"Look up," the command was sharp, and Ryou's shaking stopped. He slowly sat up, his long hair tossed about by his restless sleep, and looked about his room with weary eyes. Unconsiouly leaning towards the spirit, ready to dart behind it or hide his face once more whenever he discovered what horrid present the thing had brought home. "Why do you fear so much yadoneshi? It's your birthday, why would I torment you today?" It mocked him, leaning against him and nuzzling him making Ryou shiver from the cold. He looked around, but his sight was still a little blurry from the aftermath of the sleeping pills. But he finally saw it, amongst all of the figurine supplies.

Sliding off his bed, still shivering from the cold he didn't trust his thin legs, so he crawled over to his desk and stared at the new doll. It was a… cat. Or kitten, he guessed from the ridiculously large eyes. Grey with black stripes… and it was kinda… cute? Picking it up, he noticed that like all of the other figurines he owed it was warm, and if he put it to his ear he could hear faint mewling.

The spirit… stole the soul of a cat… and put it in a doll.

Ryou blinked, not at all disgusted as he usually was, but utterly confused as he stared at it. What was he suppose to do with it? Put it with the other figurines obviously… but he couldn't _play _with it. Yes, Ryou admitted that he ACTUALLY played with the figurines that his spirit had trapped, mostly out of guilt. They were alive inside the pieces of clay and wood, he felt that he had to do something with them.

Then a thought crossed his mind… where was the body of the cat? Ryou looked back at the spirit, who lounged on his bed watching him for reactions. Still looking confused, sitting on the floor with the cat figurine warming his cold hands, he thought about asking but closed his mouth before he got the chance. He didn't think he wanted to know… just in case he would find it later. The fear crossed his features again, and the spirit smirked. Entertained.

"You worry SO much yadoneshi," it laughed. "What would I do without you?" Ryou turned his gaze back to the ground with a blush of embarrassment staining his cheeks. It wasn't meant to be sweet, it really meant 'I would be so bored if you weren't here for me to torment, I don't even have to do anything! You suffer on your own! It's so funny!' And that was why it always laughed, at anything he did. Because he was always scared, always worrying, and always paranoid. If he was looking at himself, he would laugh too.

The smile that crossed his face wasn't meant to be there, but it made the spirit stop laughing. And just merely smirk at him, watching for his reaction. Ryou was startled at himself, because he didn't think that the insane creature would really be able to warp his mind into the state it was in now. 'What would I do without you?' it had asked with a laugh, and maybe it was the horrible realization what made him think what he did. 'I don't know' Ryou had answered with a smile 'what I would do without you either.'

**_TBC _**

--

Please review, I might update faster if you do!


End file.
